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A Silver Spring man who played a part in a massive drug ring that moved more than 500 kilograms of cocaine and resulted in 26 convictions was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week in a United States District Court in Greenbelt.

Arnulfo Hernandez, 46, of Silver Spring, was indicted in 2001 for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He was a fugitive until he was arrested in March 2008, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

He pleaded guilty to the charges, the release said, and as part of the sentence from U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte, he was sentenced Oct. 29 to serve 25 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Between 1997 and 2001, Hernandez coordinated the transportation, storage and distribution of cocaine in a drug-distribution conspiracy that delivered over 500 kilograms of cocaine into Maryland, the release said. The cocaine shipments came from Mexico and were distributed through Chicago, California and Texas before reaching Maryland, the release said. A landscaping business in Potomac served as one of the storage locations.

In 2001, Arnulfo Hernandez was living in Mexico and running the drug-distribution ring through his brother and co-conspirator Manuel Hernandez, 51, also of Silver Spring. Manuel Hernandez was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison in 2002 for the same charges.

Law-enforcement officials made several seizures of shipments that were en route to clients of the drug ring. In 2001, Leobardo Hernandez, who is related to Arnulfo Hernandez, was stopped in Ohio while attempting to transport 61 kilograms of cocaine to Maryland, according to Arnulfo Hernandez's plea agreement.

Also in 2001, Ramiro Noriega was stopped in Arkansas while transporting 81 pounds of cocaine from Maryland to California; later that year, police stopped a vehicle carrying $1.2 million, including $545,000 that Manuel Hernandez had paid for 55 kilograms of cocaine, according to the plea agreement.

Thirty-one people have been charged in connection with the drug ring, and 26 have been convicted, the release said. Four of the men charged in the drug ring remain fugitives.

Arnulfo Hernandez's Greenbelt-based attorney Michael Edward Lawlor declined to comment. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland declined to comment on further details regarding the drug distribution ring.